Trekking up the mountain

Well we took a trek up Doi Suthep to go to Wat Phalad, where there are monks living and working the land.



It is amazing that you can find such remote places not far from the bustling city. Even within Chiang Mai, if you go down an alley that you may not think looks like anywhere you would want to be, there you will find a wonderful place with waterfalls,


flowers and foliage as you enjoy an afternoon treat. They have great desserts here and YUM, I love dessert!

The Wat, which is the Thai word for temple, is filled with such ornamental beauty


and such peace and quiet that we sat and meditated. Of course I couldn't resist taking a picture of their dedication to the elephant. It looks a little like Horton Hears a Who to me!


The elephant is an important part of Thai culture and the Thai way of life. They are a traditional symbol of royal power. I am excited to be able to learn all of this first hand and will share it all with you when I get back. Perhaps I will soon be a mahout!

Until tomorrow.......





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Is Thailand the new Florida?

Over the last few days while exploring Chiang Mai with its' beauty, culture and its' people, I have met a number of expats who have all decided to retire in Thailand. The life here is a simple one and so inexpensive to live that you can buy an omelet for 10 baht which is only .33 and a three bedroom house for $50,000. It is inconceivable to me coming from New York but you can get a sense of how much further your money can go living here. I met someone who retired in his forties and is living life and loving it. It makes you think that we all work so hard and then are so exhausted that we just want to sit in our pajamas and watch TV (I may have stolen that line from a movie). So look out Florida, there's a new game in town!

I got accepted to the Elephant Walk for next week and they do not have Wifi so you won't be hearing from me come Monday but I will make sure to catch up when I get back. Also, I was able to upload a couple of pictures, thanks to my nephew, so check out the Bangkok blog when you get a chance.

Until tomorrow......

My tomorrow is your yesterday

It has been challenging trying to figure out a time to talk on Skype since I am 11 hours ahead of you and 14 hours ahead of my sister. Then, of course, there is my friend in England and is that 5 or 6 hours behind me based on Daylight Savings time? I often even forget what day it is as I am writing this on Wednesday morning and yet it is only Tuesday afternoon for you. It's hard enough to keep the day of week straight as it is without the added mathematics.

I am sure that a few of you are cussing me out as we all learn how to do this blog thing together. Questions like - how do we comment, or how do you get onto the site? It may have helped if I had given some of you the right address - oops! For me, I am still so frustrated trying to figure out how to get the pictures from my iPad onto my blog. I have tried application after application and when all else fails I give up and ask my nephew. I am hoping his skills will prevail!

I am now in Chiang Mai and will be setting out tomorrow to explore. I find that I am having a tough time adjusting and on the top of my list is not being able to use toilet paper. Well more on that another time.

Until tomorrow...........

Bangkok

Hello my fellow travelers and a Happy Father's Day

Well even with a bit of jet lag, my friend Joe and I ventured out to see Bangkok. It was sweltering hot and all of the articles that I read about what a woman should wear were not quite accurate. Here I am, in my long pants, socks to cover my feet and a shirt that covers my arms and there were a couple of times I had to do a double take when I saw what some of the women were wearing. Hmmmm perhaps I didn't pack quite right.

We went to the King's Grand Palace


and on the way we saw huts on the side of the river that you would have thought were abandoned but is actually where many families live. It has always amazed me the extremes of opulence and abject poverty.


It reminds me that I am blessed with having the opportunity to even be here.

After walking all day, we went to a massage school to do our part in helping out the economy. Ok, ok it was for my aching body as well as being altruistic! I got a Thai massage for one hour and my body was so full of knots that it felt more like torture. The kicker was when the massage student, who barely spoke English, was able to ask me if it were my first massage. A little stressed perhaps?

We ended the evening by meeting a friend of Joe's for dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. It is run by a non-profit organization that has been instrumental in educating the Thai's about birth control. I have a picture of Tiger Woods made up entirely of condoms :).


Oh speaking of pictures, I wanted to share a few of today's adventure with you but realized that in my excitement to actually have the camera connector for my iPad, I didn't realize that I also needed the connector for my camera and stored it-UGH! So I will have to venture out tomorrow to see if I can buy one so you can have visuals.

Until tomorrow........

Getting here

Hello my Beloveds,

Well getting here has taken a tremendous amount of faith, hard work and a great deal of help from my friends and family. First and foremost, I want to extend my gratitude to everyone (and you know who you are) for your generosity of your time, talent and treasure and most importantly your love and support.

Since I just arrived last evening, my body and my mind are adjusting to a slower pace which is quite a change from the burning the candle at both ends that I have been accustomed to for the past few months. Hell who am I kidding, the past number of years!

As I venture out, I would like to take you with me so until tomorrow .........